Sinn Féin - On Your Side

Diane Dodds challenged to justify DUP position on 11+

Sinn Féin West Belfast MLA Michael Ferguson has challenged Diane Dodds to
explain why the DUP back the 11+ and the system of academic selection that
is failing her constituents on the Shankill Road.

Mr Ferguson said:

"The fact remains that the people who do worst out of the current 11+ system
and the system of academic selection are of protestant working class
communities in places like the Shankill.

"The worst results in the 11+ are in state schools with high levels of free
school meals in working class Protestant areas - in the Shankill less than
2% of pupils achieved a grammar school place. That is a damning statistic.
The system is not helping the working class and it is certainly not helping
children from working class Protestant families. Those who support academic
rejection from unionist parties must ask themselves why they support a
system that fails children most in need from within their own community.

"I challenge Diane Dodds to justify her support for a system that fails
those from within her community.

"The most common myth peddled by those who support academic rejection at 11
is that it provides a ladder to success for working class and disadvantaged
children. But the truth is that the removal of academic selection will not
deprive bright, disadvantaged pupils of the opportunity of a first-rate
education. Only 8% of pupils in grammar schools come from low-income
families.

"We need to end the debate because the 11+ will go. We need to start talking
about how we bring in alternatives that can end the branding of 11 year olds
as failures and that can provide educational opportunities for all our
children that are of the very highest standards." ENDS